Seeker's Mask

Written by P.C. Hodgell

Narrated by Jennifer O'Donnell

Obedience. Self-restraint Endurance. Silence. . . These are the duties of a Highborn lady, and like the veils, masks and tight-fitting underskirts female Kencyr students are obliged to wear, Jame finds them damnably constricting. Sent here by her brother Torisen, Highlord of the Kencyrath, she has tried valiantly to fit in, but the unruly girl can't help throwing the quiet Women's Halls into an uproar. It's not entirely Jame's fault, though. While Tori's vain and vicious consort treats her like an underling, the Kencyr Matriarchs, determined to winnow out her secrets, scheme to use her to their own advantage. And her own brother wants nothing to do with her. On top of this, Shadow Guild assassins have come hunting her, eager to fulfill a long-held contract to dispose of the last of the powerful Knorth clan. It's no wonder that Jame decamps. In the company of her telepathic hunting cat, Jorin, a runaway priestling named Kindrie, and a chance-met squad of cadets, she sets out to rescue a friend from a cruel and ambitious Kencyr lord who seeks the deadly Book Bound in Pale Leather. Dodging ghostwalkers and shadow assassins, riding weirdingstorms and peripatetic trees, Jame discovers that her life is tangled up in a much larger purpose. For the war against Perimal Darkling cannot resume until three terrible objects of power, and the avatars who will wield them, appear. And she just might be one of them. . . .

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 3, 2019
• ISBN: 9781980050285

Reviews for Seeker's Mask

[quondame · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Jame is left with the Matriarchs and her twin's unwelcome term consort and all does not, as could have been predicted, go smoothly. An attack by assassins sets off the story which has people and buildings flowing hither and thither on the weirding fogs. The strange and incongruous is much more smoothly handled in this third volume though some of the important bits still have to be dug up for this reader with a tendency to skim, The humor has improved though it sometimes seems sitcom, yes we know it's going to happen, slapstick.

[altheaann · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A sequel to "God Stalk" and "Dark of the Moon," "Seeker's Mask" is definitely the best of the three - one can definitely see Hodgell really finding her stride, and moving ahead with both characterization and plot.
At the outset of this book, Jame has finally found her brother, Torisen, but unfortunately, he really doesn't know what to do with her. Having grown up partly in the sinister realm of Perimal Darkling and then as apprentice thief and tavern dancer, Jame is far from the typical meek and obedient highborn Kencyr lady. Regardless, Tori has her escorted to the women's quarters – and tries to forget about her. Unfortunately, not only does Jame not fit in socially, the women's quarters are also home to her brother's consort, noblewoman of an enemy house. But the jealous and bitter Kallistyne may be one of the more minor dangers awaiting Jame, as old blood feuds awaken. Soon Jame is on the run, in a danger-filled quest of self-discovery and family reconciliation, where, of course, the fate of worlds may hang in the balance.

[sunnysd_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Jame's story picks up a couple of years after the end of Dark of the Moon. As a highborn Kencyr female, custom dictates Jame's confinement to the matriarchy of the Woman's Hall. As the last living Knorth woman, her ambiguous position puts her at risk not only from the women around her, but from assassins bound to carry out an decades old, unfilled contract. Nightmares stalk Jame's dreams, and haunt her brother, the HighLord, as well. With Weirding mist closing round, and assassins closing in, Hodgell cranks the tension still higher with Bane's return. (And that's barely the beginning!)This is definitely not the volume in which to join Jame's story, but it's a crackerjack continuation. Make sure you have the final volume, To Ride a Rathorn close by, unless you're a fan of delayed gratification.

[black_samvara · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The sequel to God Stalk and Dark of the Moon is classic high fantasy, it's rich, complex and beautiful. The enthusiastic forward is by Charles De Lint and it's completely justified. I am utterly in love, I finished it, paused for half a day, and started again at the beginning. After locating her her twin brother Highlord Torison, Jame has been swept up in the mire that is Kencyr politics. The Women's Hall wants her obedient, her brother's consort wants her broken, his noblemen want her hand, and the Assassins guild want her dead. So off she sets; with a blind ounce (read big cat) for company, a couple of highly dangerous magical artifacts, the ghost of her sadistic half brother Bane, and some unreliable and possibly demonic magical powers, what could possibly go wrong?